“Giiiiirlfriend,” the woman at the bagel shop said to me (she was new and I hadn’t gotten her name yet). “I hope if I keep riding my bike I get legs that look like yours. They look goooood!” I didn’t know what to say; she didn’t realize that she not only made my day in less than 30 seconds, she made me want to jump across the counter and hug her. This woman didn’t know my story. She didn’t know that almost 20 years ago I had surgery that would end up leaving my leg deformed and begin ...
blue, red, black, green and yellow
You know that feeling when you have something about to happen that you want to happen so bad it makes you nervous? The kind of not-being-able-to-eat nervous that has you running to the bathroom every 15 minutes? That kind that makes your stomach do flip flops? That was me today. I didn’t start getting nervous before a race until last year, leading up to Rio. I was a wreck the morning of the Paralympic trials. And the first day of racing in Rio. And today. I woke up to the first of three ...
“wealth is the ability to fully experience life.” – henry david thoreau
I was in a yoga class earlier this month where the instructor talked of a metaphor she had heard. Basically, she told us about how when you pick an apple and taste it and realize it’s gone bad, you don’t think about the apple being the cause for the sour/bad taste. Instead you think of the tree, where it’s planted, if it’s in the right soil, if it’s gotten enough sunlight. The tree must be taken care of to produce the best-quality apples it can produce. Just like we must take time to help ...
hellooooooooo 2017
2016 was an amazing year, filled with some pretty incredible things. I went to my first Paralympic Games in Rio, which in and of itself was beyond describable: The people of Rio made for some extraordinary fans/spectators, many of which went out of their way to make us all feel welcomed in their country. The scenery was spectacular, and sometimes downright breathtaking. And I got to share the experience with my best friend – my husband. If that wasn’t enough, though, I came home with two bronze ...
it’s been a year already?!
I remember this time last year I was beyond excited that Andrew and I were within single digits of our wedding day. Beyond excited to see my family flying in to California, take a mini vacation to Santa Barbara, and meet our wonderful vendors — Evermoore Films, Grace Kathryn Photography, Selena Marie Weddings & Events and Blue Agave (now Nectar Eatery & Lounge) — face-to-face. It was an amazing time and an even more amazing day. A time that will always hold that special place in my ...